Pilrig

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Pilrig is a suburb of Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland.

It lies south-west of Leith, and is easily located by the main road Pilrig Street, running west from Leith Walk. Along the side of Pilrig Street lies Pilrig Park, within which is Pilrig House, the heart of the former estate of the Balfour family.

[edit] History

Archaeological digs in 2006 revealed the remains of Somerset's Battery, an artillery fort built for the Siege of Leith in 1560, which eventually led to the Treaty of Edinburgh. These are believed to be the only 16th century siege works ever uncovered in Britain. ^[1]

Pilrig House was built on top of the remains of the fort circa 1640. The Balfour family of Pilrig House were involved in the failed Darién "new world" investment scheme of the late 1690s and early 1700s. Their name is recalled by Balfour Street, which runs along the side of the park opposite Pilrig Street.

One inhabitant of the house was Margaret Balfour, mother of Robert Louis Stevenson (fully, Robert Lewis Balfour Stevenson, with Lewis later changed to Louis).

Estate land was gradually feued to buyers until the remainder of the land (essentially today's Pilrig Park) was sold to the local authority of Edinburgh in 1948, with certain conditions.

The houses thus created are widely varied, with terraced cottages and larger villas alongside tenements, variously from the Georgian and Victorian periods, and a substantial number of 20th century flats and industrial-unit conversions.

[edit] Transport

Pilrig has lost the railway which used to pass through the north of the area, but is still well served by buses including the frequent service 11.

[edit] Etymology

Pilrig may be derived from pyll hrycq — Anglian for "ridge by the stream". Edinburgh's main river, the Water of Leith runs close to the north of the area.